Glenbrook South stops Lake Zurich's quest for state
Lake Zurich's girls volleyball team didn't make it to the Final Four of the state tournament on Saturday, but by simply competing in the Class 4A Libertville supersectional they reached something new for the school: the Elite Eight.
The Bears completed their best-evers eason with a record of 33-7.
Glenbrook South got past Lake Zurich 25-16, 25-15 to earn a spot in next weekend's state semifinals in Normal.
"We've got the willingness not to give up - the girls just don't give up and played their hearts out," Lake Zurich coach Matt Aiello said. "It just didn't go our way. It's frustrating with the new format over the last few years with the IHSA.
"But we played in the final eight, and we've never done that before. We were right there and never found our rhythm."
The Bears had some rough spots in the match against Glenbrook South and didn't get in control of its own game.
"Our goal was to have good defense," said Brittany Murawski, a senior. "I thought if we picked up our defense, it would work. We just didn't get our first pass up and we weren't putting balls down.
"This was the best season we've could've hoped for, and it was a good year. It would have been amazing if we could've done it."
The Titans jumped out with momentum right away in Game 1, taking a 6-0 lead. The Bears tried to recover and couldn't get closer than 17-13.
"Glenbook South served better than we expected," Aiello said. "I thought we were putting easy balls over to them and simple things. We were just out of sorts. I thought once we passed the ball, we played them even."
The Bears had a hard time dealing with the Titans' Ellen Chapman, a 6-foot-3 outside hitter who had 9 kills in the opening game.
"I was just trying to get the hits in," Chapman said. "I was worried (Lake Zurich) would come out and triple-block me. It was easier to get good kills."
Lake Zurich tried recovering in Game 2. The Bears started out with 6 unanswered points and a 9-4 lead. But several errors allowed the Titans to claim the lead before they pulled away.
"We were strong in our blocking and shut them down in their attack," said Glenbrook South coach Katie Hoover, whose team will be making its first Final Four appearance with a 36-4 record. "Lake Zurich was a very athletic team, and extremely fiery team. We had to adjust to their run and we had to stick to our game plan."
Glembrook South next plays Cary-Grove in the state semifinals at Redbird Arena in Normal at 6:30 p.m on Friday.
Jenn Grunden had 3 aces, 4 kills and 13 digs, and Audrey Bauer added 3 kills and 3 blocks for the Bears.